REFEREES should be told to stop football matches when there is racist chanting, according to Britain's race relations figurehead.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, accused Sepp Blatter, boss of football's governing body FIFA, of a "complete cop-out" in his response to the abuse of England's black players while playing Spain in Madrid.

He said he would have supported England if they had walked off the pitch. But Mr Phillips said: "It is typical Blatter, a complete cop-out.

"They should give referees the authority to take them off. It should not be down to the players. That is stupid. What player is ever going to do that? As Sol Campbell said, it's giving in."

Mr Phillips' comments came after Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger became the lastest high-profile figure to wade into the debate over the chanting which marred the England-Spain friendly at Madrid's Bernabeu stadium last Wednesday.

Mr Wenger said racists could manipulate matches if they knew players were likely to walk off or referees halt games.

More racist chanting was reported in the Bernabeu this week for Real Madrid's Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen.

Trouble

Mr Phillips said the problem should be taken into account when assessing Madrid's bid for the Olympics in 2012. But he said the Spanish capital should not be ruled out of the running.

"Certainly it is an issue the International Olympic Committee has to weigh as part of its considerations," he said. "What you can't do is say `let's ban Spain' because it is too easy.

"If you started doing that then most of Europe could find itself in trouble."

Mr Phillips, speaking during a visit to the Temple Primary School, in Cheetham Hill, also claimed the position of ethnic minority police officers was "not improving" 11 years after the murder of London teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The CRE ordered an investigation into racism in the police after shocking scenes were aired on BBC documentary The Secret Policeman last year, when police recruits were shown being racist during secret filming.

"There is undoubtedly a serious issue for the government, ourselves and the police," said Mr Phillips.

"It is not all over. It is not improving. The position of minority police officers seems more precarious and we have got to stop it."

Mr Phillips spent time chatting about racism to pupils at Temple - where 22 languages are spoken - before moving on to see community work being carried out in Moss Side.

"Manchester has a difficult history, but partly through work on the Commonwealth Games, it has done a lot to embrace its diversity," he said. "It has made a huge difference, but there is still a lot to do."

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